Tragic Truth
by Liz Jean Tonks
Summary: "It's over, Ron. We've lost." Voldemort has won the war. The boy who lived is dead and the golden trio falls apart. Ron wants to make sure Hermione is safe and she has to make a choice./Written for the International Wizarding School Championship/AU!Voldemort wins/WARNING: major character death


**A/N: Thanks to the awesome people who encouraged me during writing and who where beta-reading my text: Paceso, Ninja and Tyeth :) Thank you.**

**This is an AU in which Voldemort wins. It's closer to the movie-verse than the book universe. **

Written for the International Wizarding School Championship

****Theme:****Voldemort Wins AU

**Prompts**: Main: 1). Ron Weasley [Character]

Side prompts: 6). The Resurrection Stone [Object]

**School:** Beauxbatons

**Year:** Year 7

* * *

Ron didn't know what had happened. Maybe a spell had hit him, maybe he had simply collapsed... All he knew was that he was lying on the ground and it was weirdly comfortable. There seemed to be no sounds at all, no voices to hear. He was alone.

The light was bright and he figured that it was dawn. With great effort, he managed to open his eyes. To his confusion, there were trees above him. He was lying in the forbidden forest.

Now he discovered that he wasn't alone after all; he recognized Hermione's face bending over him. He blinked and tried to see more clearly.

Then it suddenly occurred to him.

"Harry," he said, and tried to get up, "Harry, we need to get to him, we need to save him!" His hands and legs were shaking as he tried to sit up. "Hermione?" he said desperately, as she didn't react. "Hermione, we've got to do something!"

She didn't move, but her expression was painful. "Ron..." she said slowly. "Ron... there's nothing we can do. It's over."

He stared at her and shook his head. "No," he said, "no, no..."

"Yes," Hermione said. "You tried to follow Harry but a Death Eater caught you as you headed down here... I thought you were..." She swallowed. "You didn't move at all, but after a while you started shouting Harry's name. But it's done. Harry went down to - ," she looked at him, "- to You-Know-Who and the _Avada Kedavra_ hit him right in the chest. That was a few hours ago."

Ron got up slowly, and looked around. He could see the castle, or rather, what was left of it. His eyes got teary, and the night came back to his mind. He saw once more how Fred had gotten killed... It had never seemed more real than now. But not Harry, too...

He wept despairingly. He didn't care if someone heard him, why would he care if a Death Eater heard him? If one came, he would kill him. He would kill the lot of them.

But that wouldn't bring Harry back... The thought was painful. Worse than the Cruciatus...

Hermione came up behind him. "Come on, Ron," she said. "It's over. We've lost." Ron looked into her bloody, teary face.

"We've lost?" he repeated. "It's over?"

The lion in him roared. "We can't give up now! Harry didn't sacrifice himself -" he swallowed, "for nothing. He wants us to fight!"

But Hermione just shook her head sadly. She picked up the invisibility cloak that was lying on the ground and threw it over them. Then she took Ron's hand and slowly led him out of the forest. She didn't say anything while they were approaching the castle.

What he saw shocked Ron. The castle was nothing more than a ruin. Death Eaters were everywhere. Many of his friends were chained up. Voldemort was standing in the centre of the crowd. The snake was slithering around his feet.

Hermione pressed his hand. "Harry's death encouraged the Death Eaters, and... discouraged all our fighters." Her voice was no more than a whisper.

Ron stared at her, but before he could speak, Voldemort rose his voice again. He was holding something in his fingers that caught Ron's attention. He squinted his eyes and turned to Hermione. "That's not..."

She nodded sadly. "The Stone," she whispered, "You do remember Harry gave it to me before he left, don't you? That he said we should keep it to look back on him?"

Ron nodded.

Hermione swallowed. "I dropped it when the Death Eaters were chasing me, and someone must have found it..."

"But how did Voldemort get in possession of it? How can he even use it? It's Harry's..."

"Please, Ron, keep your voice down. We must not be discovered," she whispered.

Ron turned back to the court where Voldemort stood with his arms outstretched. "Everyone," he called, "I give you – The Boy Who Lived."

Ron paled as he watched. Unconsciously, he held Hermione's hand a bit more firmly. Voldemort rose the stone into the air and after several seconds, a dark, dusty shadow emerged from it. The shadow slowly formed into a human shape and assumed the form of Harry.

Several people screamed, but they were silenced at once by the Death Eaters. Ron saw Ginny lying on the ground, near Bellatrix, crying. A flick of Bellatrix's wand silenced her.

Ron wanted to close his eyes but at the same time he needed to see his friend one last time. Harry had joined the unliving, the dead, but Ron yearned to believe otherwise. Harry was one of them now... He wasn't alive any more.

Ghost-Harry moved his lips, but Ron didn't understand what he was saying. He felt Hermione moving closer to him and felt her warmth, but it was nothing to him. He just looked at Harry and wished he would stay there forever. He wished he could join him.

But the wish was a brief hope: Voldemort already lifted the Resurrection Stone again and touched it slightly with his hand before he put it back into his pocket.

"There you have the famous Harry Potter," Voldemort smirked. "All those who still wish to join him – please, I welcome you. Death welcomes you."

His arms were outstretched and he grinned viciously. No one moved. "I see none of you have your leader's courage," he mocked, and their protesting movements were stilled by Death Eaters' wands. "All those lying on the ground… This battle has come to a close. We have finished our fight. All those who lie on the ground, vanquished by the powers of Lord Voldemort and his followers, you have found your right place. You may get on your feet now, bow, kneel before me, and I shall give you freedom in the world we will build. We shall find a place for each victorious fighter in our ranks. Or... you may chose to die."

Again, no one in the crowd moved. Suddenly Ron remembered something Harry had said years ago.

_Being a second away from being murdered... watching friends die... you don't know what that's like._

Now they knew what it was like – or did they?

The Death Eaters bent down to the survivors, and pushed them towards Voldemort.

Ron watched his friends as they slowly rose from the ground. He couldn't believe his eyes when one by one lowered their heads and bowed before Voldemort.

But what would he have done? Wasn't he glad he was standing under the Invisibility Cloak with Hermione?

Dean Thomas was the fourth person who slowly got up from the grounds. Just like everyone else, he faced the Dark Lord, but Voldemort ignored his bow. He looked at the Carrow siblings; Amycus whispered something to him. Voldemort nodded shortly, and Amycus raised his wand.

There was a flash of green light, a gasp in the crowd and the next second, Dean dropped backwards, his eyes widely open in shock. Amycus pocketed his wand. Everyone's eyes were on the boy on the ground.

Voldemort smiled coldly. "Continue."

All Hermione and Ron could do was stand there, careful not to move, and watch their friends. While seconds after he had learnt of Harry's death, Ron hadn't been able to feel anything, now he felt like he'd explode. He wasn't sure if he wanted someone to stand up against Voldemort or if they should surrender and be done with it.

No one else should die...

He was totally lost in thoughts and caught by utter surprise when suddenly more flashes of light blazed over the entire place. Hermione and he instinctively drew back. With bated breath, Ron watched the scene. Neville was standing in front of Voldemort, his wand pointing to the snake that still slithered closely to Voldemort. Voldemort looked at the boy in shock and surprise – he had blocked Neville's curse easily – then his expression changed to anger. He turned to his Death Eaters.

"Bellatrix," he called. "Will you attend to Mr. Longbottom?"

While she approached Neville, Voldemort flicked his wand. Ron watched breathlessly as he conjured a shield around the snake. Next to him, Hermione started stepping nervously from one foot to the other. Once the shield was finished, Voldemort turned to the crowd and Neville again, who was already being hit with the Cruciatus Curse by Bellatrix Lestrange.

If Ron had thought that things couldn't get worse after Voldemort had showed them Harry's shadow, he had been wrong. Watching Neville writhing and screaming on the ground was one of the worst things he ever had to go through. The worst thing he had to witness.

On top of it all, there was the horrible truth: six horcruxes down, a last one to go. Only one horcrux away from Voldemort's mortality – but they could not touch it. They had to watch quietly. The snake was unapproachable.

He looked at Hermione, hoping that she might have an idea – any idea – that would help something, that would do some good – but she just watched. Just like him, she simply watched.

* * *

Ron and Hermione were at The Burrow. Most of Ron's time he spent staring at the wall, brooding. Hermione approached him tentatively.

"You didn't come for dinner," she said.

He looked at her gloomily. "Well, there isn't much dinner, is there?" he said darkly.

She sat down next to him. "We'll be fine."

He looked at her. "And how is that supposed to work? You were right. We've lost."

Hermione didn't say anything to that. She took Ron's hand. "I'm sorry."

He stared at the wall. "No, _I'm _sorry," he said. "I'm sorry nothing worked the way we planned. Maybe it would be better to be dead, like Harry."

"Don't say that."

"Oh, yes, I am saying it. Dad can't work, we can't leave the house and soon the ministry and Voldemort will find out how to break the Fidelius charm. And we're farther away from the snake than ever." He looked at her. "Is there any news about it?"

Hermione looked at him desperately. "See, that's what we've been discussing at dinner table. According to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Voldemort has made sure no one can touch his last horcrux. He's hiding the snake in a safe house. And he himself is the secret keeper."

Ron stared at her. "No," he said slowly, but Hermione nodded sadly.

"How did Shacklebolt find out?"

"Kreacher. He's more useful than you'd think he is. Well, your dad placed some spells on him to make sure he doesn't go babbling, but he still talks to us, and he lives at the Lestrange's place. He catches a lot of things."

Ron nodded slowly. "I didn't know he serves the Lestranges now."

"Well, Kreacher doesn't have anywhere else to go to. He'd me ours, according to Harry's will, but he keeps saying he won't serve a Mudblood. So they are the the only ones left for him. We can only hope the memory and silencing enchantments on him are strong enough."

"But they can be broken by a powerful wizard!" Ron jumped up from his chair. "They could find out about us any day! Why do you still allow him in?"

"We can't shut him out," Hermione tried to explain in a calm voice, "he can apparate in and out as he pleases, he's an elf. But we should be glad he is there. With Snape gone, we need a spy."

"But he could even bring the Death Eaters in here!"

"We can't change that. That's why we keep using memory charms." She took a deep breath. "Calm down, Ron. If you hadn't been hiding down here the last days, you'd understand. We don't have many choices anymore."

"No," he said bitterly, "no, we don't. And we can't even beat Voldemort?"

"We can't get the snake."

"And Harry's dead."

"Harry's dead."

"And we've lost half the order, and the Death Eaters can walk in any moment, and Voldemort has power over all of Britain. Some of our side might join the winning side this very moment, or have already joined it... And you expect me to stay calm?"

"Please, Ron, we just need to stay hopeful. We'll fight. There's always a way."

"It's over, Hermione. OVER."

"Not if there are people left who are fighting."

"Please go. Please leave me alone for a minute. I need to think." And before Hermione could react, Ron pushed her out, shut the door and sat in the darkness.

* * *

Ron was thinking. And the more he thought about the entire situation, the less he thought about the magical community as a whole and the more he thought of one particular person. A very special person.

Hermione.

If The Burrow was attacked – and he had no doubt his could happen any day now, any minute, perhaps – she would be the person the Death Eaters would be most eager to see dead. His family? Well, they were blood-traitors, but at the moment, the Death Eaters didn't seem to consider them as so important.

Right now, they violated the Muggle-borns. Ron still had nightmares about what happened the day after the battle - about how Dean had been killed. Just because of his blood.

They had always talked about how things would be if Voldemort had complete control, but never had it been more real. One Muggle-born and his family had been killed, one by one. And they would be even more eager to get Hermione – she had been, and still was, quite rebellious.

Of course, the Death Eaters couldn't kill every blood-traitor and half-blood, or they would live in a very small country. But Hermione – that was someone to worry about. And Ron wasn't sure she was entirely aware of the fact she was in greater danger than everyone else in the house.

"Hermione, we've got to talk." Ron had joined the dinner table, but he had been very quiet. In fact, it had been a very quiet dinner. In spite of the fact everyone from the order was there, the table had seemed empty.

There weren't many left from the order at all. Ron had tried not to notice who was missing, to think of nothing.

Hermione looked at him. "Okay, sure."

They walked downstairs. Ron didn't want to be overheard. Just a few quiet moments with Hermione.

"Hermione, I've been thinking. What is your plan?"

She looked at him, bewildered. "My plan?"

"You can't just stay here. If the Death Eaters burst in – Hermione, you are aware of your blood status, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. But here, with the order, I'm safer than elsewhere."

"That's not what I mean. I mean, you can't stay here at all. You can't stay in the whole of Britain. You should leave the country."

Hermione stared at him. "Are you serious?" she asked.

"Hermione, you're a Muggleborn! Didn't you see what they did to Dean? And it's not like you have a purpose here – the snake is untouchable. There is no way to defeat him right now – right now, we should worry about our safety!"

She looked at him for a long time. "Where am I supposed to go?"

"Go to your parents' place. That way you can be together. If You-Know-Who does find you, which I doubt, because he will want to take care of this country first, you can at least be together with them."

"But I'd be leaving you and your family!"

"Don't worry about us. We're purebloods."

"They'd still want to get you."

"Yes, and they'd probably send us to Azkaban, but you, Hermione, you would be tortured to death. If they find you, there is no way you'd survive. They are too strong."

Hermione looked at him.

"Please, Hermione," he said, "I love you, please. Please."

"There are ways to stay in touch. When there's hope, when there's need you come back, or when we can come to you, we will."

"So I will be on the other side of the world, not knowing anything and waiting for a message? Not knowing what happened to you?"

"At least I would know you'd be safe." He took a deep breath. "You're in greater danger than us, Hermione, and you know that yourself."

For several moments they stood silently. The moment strongly reminded Ron of the battle. They all had known Harry had to die, but no one wanted to realise it.

"We'll flee, too, Hermione. We have to leave the country. You-Know-Who's too strong for what's left of our powers. And I will come back to you. I promise."

She looked at him, her eyes wet. "I can't just go away and leave you in this misery."

"The only glimpse of hope I have is to know you're safe."

And after another long while, Hermione nodded. "I... I love you, Ronald."

He moved closer to her and gave her a long hug.

"Hermione?" he mumbled, his mouth on her shoulder.

"Hm?"

"When all this is over, will you marry me?"

She slowly let go of him. Her face was wet of tears. "Yes", she said, with a sudden smile, "yes, I will!"

"I will find you," Ron said, "as soon as we can all risk getting away, I will find you. And then we'll fight the Dark once more, together, with a plan."

She nodded. The smile had already faded.

He kissed her carefully. "Safety comes first, Hermione."

She nodded and leaned on his shoulder. "Safety comes first."

_Harry would want to know she was safe, too,_ Ron thought. She had to get out of the storm, and once the sky was less cloudy, he and she would try to make the world a sunny place again.

He didn't know how. He didn't even know if it were possible. But right now he smelled her perfume and he knew she would live in a safer place, and he would one day be with her. He just knew it.


End file.
